Mid North Coast Police are investigating if the discovery of a body on Fernbank Creek Road near Port Macquarie, is related to the random shooting spree that led to the arrest of two men at Kempsey.
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The men, aged 26 and 32, were found in Kempsey on the riverbank behind Geoffrey Debenham Street around 3.15pm on Thursday, November 9.
They have been taken to Kempsey Police Station for questioning.
The arrests end a coast-wide police operation and Public Safety Alert that started with an incident at Coopernook at 1.40am.
Police were called to the M1 following reports of shots fired at a Landcruiser from a Mercedes utility.
The driver of the Landcruiser suffered a bullet graze to his arm. He was treated at Manning Base Hospital at Taree and has since been released.
About 4.40am, police were then called to the M1 at The Hatch, following reports of shots fired at another vehicle.
Around 5.15am, shots were allegedly fired in the direction of a police vehicle near Fernbank Creek Road, Port Macquarie.
No officers were injured, however it was in that area that police found a body at the side of the road.
Police are treating the person's death as suspicious but have yet to determine if it is connected to the shootings.
"At this stage again, we're still processing all those crime scenes," Acting Assistant Commissioner Scott Tanner said.
"We won't know until we process those crimes scenes what those links are.
"However that is one very strong line of inquiry, that they are all linked together. "
Police are still searching for the firearms involved in the offences earlier this morning.
"As part of our investigation we will retrace where [the men have] been and continue to search for those weapons."
Following a public appeal, the Mercedes utility was located abandoned at Wayne Richards Park on Koala Street, Port Macquarie, around 10.30am.
The vehicle was seized to undergo forensic examination.
The large-scale police operation was led by the Mid North Coast Police District - assisted by officers from Manning-Great Lakes Police District, and several NSW Police specialist units, including PolAir, the Tactical Operations Unit, the Police Dog Unit, Traffic and Highway Patrol, and other Northern Region resources.
"It was quite a significant operation," Act. Ass. Comm. Tanner said.
"And it shows that NSW police first and foremost look after the safety of the public.
"And today we made sure that the resources were in place to bring this operation to a successful outcome."
The Acting Assistant Commissioner also thanked the community for their cooperation and for coming forward with information.
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